We arrived at Nha Trang at 6:00am and luckily our posh hotel were very accommodating and allowed us to check straight in. The room is so nice with comfy beds and actual duvets so we went to bed for a few hours having not had a great sleep on the night bus. We were woken up roughly every half hour to the crazy driver slamming on the breaks and watching both the bus wobbling from side to side and our lives flash before our eyes. Needless to say we were shattered and had earned a good sleep.

We woke at midday and went across the road to a restaurant called Lanterns that was rated very highly on trip advisor and had some very tasty Vietnamese food for lunch. Tim (from Holland) and Benny (from Germany) had decided to join us in Nha Trang for two nights so we got in touch with them and arranged to meet them at our roof top pool shortly after. As tall buildings stopped sun from getting to us up there we decided to go for a walk to the beach which was just down the road. We supervised the boys frolicking in the waves like little kids for a while then headed to their hostel to see what boat trip deals they could offer there as we assumed they'd be targeted at backpackers and that we might be joined by more like-minded people wanting to party.

So this is how we spent Christmas Eve....

The boat trip we ended up booking wasn't quite the 'party boat' we'd been sold because apart from the five of us and a Russian couple, the boat was filled with Vietnamese families. However this didn't stop Bao (the boat rep) from turning it into a party boat.

They picked us up from the boys hostel at 8:30am and took us to our boat. The first island we went to had an aquarium that you had to pay extra for, and only had half an hour to visit. So we all decided to skip that and headed up to the top deck to enjoy some sun, beer and music provided by Benny. The next island the boat took us to had the options of water sports or snorkelling. We all opted to do the banana boat which was absolutely hilarious. Tim spent more time in the water than on the banana, and as he was sat behind me I even encouraged him to fall off at one point so he didn't pull me in. There may have been a hand slap or two as he was holding on for dear life through his laughter. I stand by my actions. We all came off at one point though, and the water was so nice so we didn't mind. I must also mention the stunning weather we had the whole day. It was boiling!!

After the banana boat we jumped in to join the other swimmers/snorkelling. There was meant to be a coral reef but no one saw any signs of coral so we just had a little swim/float with a rubber ring. We then got back on the boat and headed to another island that people could eat and pay extra for some exotic seafood such as see urchin. Believe it or not we passed on this also, and waited until the boat joined up with 2 other boats where we stopped for lunch. There were loads of dishes presented on the table that filled us nicely. From tuna steak & chicken to rice & noodles.

After lunch we hopped on over to the next boat where the boy band (Vietnamese boat staff) began to play their instruments and got everyone up to sing a song by someone of their nationality. We had Australia, Germany, Holland, America, UK, South Africa, China, Vietnam and probably more. It was great fun. Me, Louisa and another English guy had to get up on the stage and sing Wonderwall by Oasis (Lowri chickened out) and luckily for everyone the microphones didn't work very well otherwise I'm sure people would have been throwing themselves overboard to escape the pain in their ears caused by our singing.

After everyone had been dragged up on stage and been suitably embarrassed the entertainment was over and we hopped back on over to our boat to head to the last island. The last stop was a relaxing hour on a beach where the water was lovely and clear and me and Louisa decided to give ourselves a Christmas treat and go parasailing. Which was amazing. Short, but amazing. The views were so pretty and it's such a nice feeling floating up in the sky. What a way to end the trip.

The boat headed back to the harbour where the shuttle bus picked us up and dropped us back to the hostel. We got showered and changed and headed to the skylight bar which is on the top of a tall hotel and has a 360 degree viewing deck of the city. You get a drink included in the price of your ticket to get up there so we enjoyed a cocktail in the very festive bar (Christmas decorations galore!) The only disappointment was that it started raining so we were unable to get out onto the glass viewing gallery where you can look down from the 43rd floor which would have been cool.

After we left the Skylight hotel we met the boys downstairs and headed out for some dinner. Benny had found a BBQ place that was rated one of the best restaurants in Nha Trang on Tripadvisor so we hopped in a taxi and headed there. Louisa had decided to stay in the hotel and relax so we ordered a BBQ platter for four. It was huge. We had sausage, steak, chicken, spare ribs, mini bread rolls, chips, sweet corn, salad, sweet potato, pineapple... it was so good. After that we headed back to the hotel as we were all pretty tired from the boat trip and had sore heads from drinking cheap vodka all day. Plus the boys were hopping on a 7:30am bus to Dalat... where we'll see them again on Boxing Day.

And we've woken up today and ITS CHRISTMAS!! Merry Christmas to all our loved ones back home. We miss you lots. Hope your day is as glorious as ours. So far we've been to the beach (as we saw the sun was out AGAIN), had another delicious lunch in Lanterns, and are about to get pampered in the hotel Spa. Safe to say we're loving life in Nha Trang.